Turning One

Months ago, I experienced a subtle moment that has enhanced my perspective on life. My two-month-old infant daughter was sleeping in my arms on a stunning Saturday afternoon in February. Her body and breath were calm, and she possessed a serenity about her, an energy that seemed godlike, whatever that might mean; if you have ever held an infant of your own you likely understand what I am talking about. In that moment, I loved her more than anything in the entire world.

As she slept, my infatuation eventually faded back into reality, and my eyes wandered to our television where on the screen, a Syrian refugee, a father perhaps, was fighting for his life crossing what seemed to be an ocean while holding what was presumably his own infant daughter. Usually this type of image would leave a pit of despair in my stomach, but on that day, it didn’t because the juxtaposition of the moment brought with it a tremendous amount of clarity.

My daughter and the child on television set are about to enjoy drastically different life experiences. Presumably not better or worse, but most certainly different. Intellectually speaking, it is easy to make the statement that if we grew up in a different environment than the one we have experienced, we would likely be different people than we are today. It is not hard to imagine that if you were born with a different skin color, or in different geographic location, or to a separate set of parents that you would hold a totally different set of values, beliefs, and world view than you currently hold. That being true, it is extremely difficult to emotionally separate ourselves from our current life situation because it’s our life and we are passionate about our experiences and what they have helped us become, sometimes for better, and sometimes for worse.

Learning how to separate who you truly are versus what you believe you’ve become, is a key element to finding the ability to be empathetic, have faith, and achieve an overall happy state of being. When my eyes returned to my daughter again on that sunny day they viewed her with more clarity and more wisdom. What I understood more profoundly than I did at the start of the day is that when we come into this world we do so as pure, positive, and unassuming energy. We want to love unconditionally and to be loved unconditionally. At our core, we are all one and we are all the same, which makes anything other than love for our neighbor, whether next door or across the ocean, seem like a silly option.

Thank you, little miss Maryn for deepening my understanding of this life, and for smiling at me even on my worst of days.